<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">One of Rabbi Weinberg's lectures has as its title "If Your Prayers Could Be Answered". In it he points out that when we pray we are entering into God's space. What I found interesting is one of the names employed for God is HaMakom, which is often translated as the Place (or Space). HaMakom is an unusual and infrequently used Name for God. </font><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br></span></font></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">The Rambam writes this explicitly in the Laws of the Foundations of Torah (1:11):</font><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "></span></font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">Once it has been clearly demonstrated that He is not physical, it becomes clear that He has no physical properties or conditions: not combination or separation, </font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">not place</font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"> or measure, not ascent or descent, not right or left, not front or back, not sitting or standing, nor does He exist in time – which would necessitate Him having a beginning and an end, and therefore partake of multiplicity – and He does not change, for there is nothing capable of causing Him to change.</font></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">The Sages (Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27; Bereishis Rabbah 68:9) give the following explanation of the name “</font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">Ha’Makom</font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">”: “He is the Place of the universe, but the universe is not His place.”</font></span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">What I find more fascinating is the following: </span></font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">The Avudarham provides us with one more hint. He writes: “And you will find that the </span></font><em><a href="http://kankanchadash.blogspot.com/2007/04/gematria-g-d-forbid_15.html" style="text-decoration: none; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#0B140D"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">gematria</span></font></font></a></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> of ‘</span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Makom’</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> is the same as </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">gematria </span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">of YKVH according to its </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">cheshbon gadol</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> (greater calculation).” The </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">cheshbon gadol</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> of YKVH is the sum of each letter multiplied by its own numerical value: (10 x 10) + (5 x 5) + (6 x 6) + (5 x 5) = 186, which is equivalent to the numerical value of MaKOM: 40 + 100 + 6 + 40 = 186.</span></font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">According to this definition of place, the meaning of the Sages becomes clear. “He is the place of the universe, and the universe is not His place” means that His Existence “supports” the existence of the universe, but the universe does not “support” His Existence. In other words, </span></font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">He is the Cause of the universe’s existence, but the universe is not the cause of His Existence.</span></font></strong></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><p><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Now we can understand what the Avudarham meant when he said that the </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">gematria</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> of </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Makom</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> is equivalent to the </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">cheshbon-gadol gematria</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> of YKVH. He means that the idea of the name </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Ha’Makom</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> alludes to the idea of the name YKVH. What is the idea of the name YKVH? The Rambam begins the Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah with the statement, “</span></font><em><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Y</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">esode </span></font><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">H</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">a’yesodos</span></font><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">V</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">’amud </span></font><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">H</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">a’Chochmos</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">” which clearly alludes to the name YKVH. The translation is as follows:</span></font></p><blockquote style="line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 20px; "><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">1:1</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> The foundation of foundations and the pillar of all sciences is to know that there is a Primary Existent, Who brought into existence all existences, and all of the existences from heaven to earth and everything in between only exist by the reality of His Existence.<br><br></span></font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">1:2</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> And if one could entertain the thought that He did not Exist, nothing else would be able to exist.<br><br></span></font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">1:3</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> And if one could entertain the thought that all of the other existences besides Him didn’t exist, He alone would be Existent, and He would not be negated by their negation, for all the existences need Him, but He – blessed is He – does not need them, nor any one of them.</span></font></blockquote><p><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">“He is the place of the universe, but the universe is not His place.” He causes the universe’s existence, but the universe does not cause His existence. He is the Independent (or Necessary) Existence, whereas the universe is a dependent (or contingent) existence.</span></font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Excerpted from: Kankan Chadas baruch ha-Makom #1</span></font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">This was the theme of many of Rabbi Weinberg's lessons.</span></font></p></span></div><div><!--StartFragment--><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Eleanor Roosevelt once
remarked</span></font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">“that many people walk in
and out of our lives, but few leave footprints in our heart”.</span></font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> Rabbi Weinberg </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">always left large footprints! He rekindled faith in many thousands.</span></font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"> </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">Now
that he is gone, the legacy of his lifetime will do no less.</span></font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#141414"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;">T'hey Nishmaso Tzruro B'tzror Hachayim..</span></font></font></span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#141414" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#141414" face="Arial" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">ri</span></font></div></body></html>